Internal combustion (IC) engines are used throughout the world and mainly for motor vehicles. IC engines account for one of the largest consumers of petroleum products known. Due to the large amount of petroleum products consumed by IC engines and the gases exhausted from IC engines, numerous regulatory agencies have implemented regulations or are in the process of implementing regulations that require minimum average fuel economy of vehicles as well as limit the amount of pollutants that are exhausted from vehicles.
Earlier attempts at reducing vehicle emissions have centered on exhaust gas treatments. For example, earlier attempts have introduced reagents into the exhaust gas stream prior to the gas passing through a catalyst in order to effect selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of the nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the exhaust gases. Additionally, many vehicles now include exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) systems to recirculate at least some of the exhaust gases. Although EGR reduces the harmful emissions of vehicles, it also often reduces the vehicle's fuel economy.
The uses of SCR and EGR have been effective in reducing the emission problems in the exhaust stream, but have done little in improving the fuel economy and fuel consumption of vehicles. With the tighter regulations that are being implemented, many manufacturers have turned their focus to increasing the fuel economy of IC engines. It is generally known that only about thirty to forty percent of the energy produced by the fuel combustion of IC engines translates to mechanical power. Much of the remaining energy is lost in the form of heat. Therefore, one particular area of focus in the motor vehicle industry has been to recover some of the heat that is generated by the IC engine using a Rankine cycle.
While these prior art attempts have improved the vehicle's efficiency, they lack adequate control of the working fluid and the working fluid's temperature. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,705 discloses a heat recovery system that heats the working fluid using heat from the IC engine's exhaust and the IC engine's cooling circuit, i.e., the IC engine's radiator. A problem with the '705 patent is that the bypass circuit directs vapor directly into a condenser. Although this is typically not a problem for lower temperature and/or pressure vapors, as the temperature and/or pressure increases, the shock to the condenser caused by receiving superheated vapor can reduce the life expectancy of the condenser. Similarly, the vapor may also reduce the life of the '705 expander (i.e., vapor engine). For example, if the fluid entering the expander has too much liquid content, the expander may be damaged by the liquid entering a high speed expander due to, for example, wear caused by the liquid. The expander may also be damaged if the vapor fluid flow rate or temperature is too high.
Accordingly, there is a need for a bypass valve in waste heat recovery systems. There is also a need for the bypass valve to regulate a flow of a heated fluid in a waste heat recovery system.